May 9th, 2013 06:06 AM

MANILA, Philippines—How many photos can an uncluttered news page run? Two or three? Try two dozen.

The new Inquirer Mobile app, launched Wednesday, allows the newspaper to publish photo galleries with as many as 25 photos each, and which readers can view using their smartphones or tablets.

This page, for example, “carries” a gallery of recent photographs from the Associated Press. The reader can view them using the INQSnap function in the newly upgraded Inquirer Mobile app.

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As hundreds of mallgoers and office workers have found out for themselves through the ongoing Inquirer product demo tour, INQSnap is very easy to use: Train the device’s camera at the page with an INQSnap logo, wait for interactive buttons to appear on the device’s screen, then click on the buttons to view the photo gallery (or watch video, or zoom on a map).

The app can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App Store or from Google Play (for devices using the Android software). The photo galleries and other multimedia content can be viewed or read also without charge.

The Inquirer owns exclusive rights to INQSnap in the Philippines; it works with the Singapore-based company Knorex, which has also licensed the same AR app to The Star of Malaysia and the Nation of Thailand, Inquirer’s partners in the Asia News Network.

The INQSnap demo tour continues Thursday in two venues: the Strata 2000 building in Ortigas Center, in Pasig City, and GT Tower in Makati City. On Friday, the tour goes to the Gateway MRT junction (near Goldilocks) in Cubao, Quezon City, and to LKG Tower in Makati; on Saturday and Sunday, Inquirer marketing reps will help interested readers at the Central Plaza of Market! Market! in Taguig. And on May 14, the product demo team will set up shop at the Food Court of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The Inquirer starts its regular schedule of publishing stories with multimedia content on May 15.